Investigations into the Nature, Causation, and Prevention of Texas or Southern Cattle Fever Page: 7
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LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,
BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY,
TWashington, D. C., February 6, 1893.
SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith a report covering " Inves-
tigations into the Nature, Causation, and Prevention of Texas or
Southern Cattle Fever," which have been conducted under my direc-
tion by Drs. Theobald Smith and F. L. Kilborne, of this Bureau.
These investigations have extended over a period of several years,
and it is gratifying to be able to state that they have been successful
in discovering the cause of the disease and the means by which it is
transmitted.
In the whole list of diseases affecting the domesticated animals,
there is none so peculiar in its character or so mysterious in its phe-
nomena as was this one previous to these researches. The dissemina-
tion of the deadly contagion by apparently healthy cattle, and the
harmlessness in general of the really sick animals were inexplicable
by any facts which were furnished by the study of other diseases.
Veterinarians who had not had an opportunity to observe this disease
were skeptical in regard to the correctness of such conclusions, and
some spoke of them as a " romance in pathology." These early obser-
vations have not only been confirmed, but the phenomena have been
explained, and our knowledge placed upon a scientific basis.
It had long been believed by the cattle-raisers of the West that
Texas fever was caused by the ticks which were carried and scattered
everywhere by the Southern cattle; but scientists were incredulous,
because they could not understand how the bite of these insects could
produce such an acute disease, with destruction of the blood corpus-
cles and lesions of internal organs. It was not until the protozoal
microorganism was discovered in the blood corpuscles, and its
destructive effects were revealed, that the action of the ticks could be
explained.
When the writer investigated the extent of the infected district lie
was strongly impressed with the fact, which then first became appar-
ent, that this district almost exactly corresponded with the habitat of
the suspected tick. This led to the experiments which demonstrated
that ticks carried the infection introduced it into the tissues of the
susceptible cattle, and in that way produced the disease. We have to
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Smith, Theobold & Kilborne, Fred Lucius. Investigations into the Nature, Causation, and Prevention of Texas or Southern Cattle Fever, book, 1893; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth143538/m1/7/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting University of Texas Health Science Center Libraries.